Assistant Director - Engineering, Retirement Platform Modernization (Data Enablement)

What You'll Do

We're looking for an Assistant Director of Engineering to join our Retirement & Income Solutions (RIS) business. In this critical role, you'll drive the evolution of data enablement capabilities for our next-generation retirement recordkeeping platform, while building and leading a high performing engineering team. As a key technical leader, you'll coach and develop data engineers, guide technical decisions, and ensure the successful delivery of transformative initiatives that shape our future retirement solutions.
You'll have the opportunity to:

• Lead the transformation of operational data into curated, consumable data products using cloud-native technologies
• Drive the integration and migration of data within the recordkeeping ecosystem, establishing quality standards and ensuring data consistency across systems
• Evaluate emerging technologies and guide technical direction, ensuring solutions align with enterprise standards and industry best practices
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to transform business objectives into robust technical solutions, translating complex technical concepts for diverse audiences
• Influence data strategy and establish a compelling technical vision through active participation in key enterprise programs and architectural decisions
• Cultivate an exceptional engineering team by fostering innovation, mentoring emerging talent, and creating a results-driven culture grounded in trust, accountability, and continuous learning

Operating at the intersection of financial services and technology, Principal builds financial tools that help our customers live better lives. We take pride in being a purpose-led firm, motivated by our mission to make financial security accessible to all.

Our mission, integrity, and customer focus have made us a trusted leader for more than 140 years. As Principal continues to modernize its systems, this role will offer you an exciting opportunity to build solutions that will directly impact our long-term strategy and tech stack, all while ensuring that our products are robust, scalable, and secure!

Who You Are

• Bachelor's degree (preference in a computer science, technology, engineering, or math-related field) or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of enterprise-level technical experience, demonstrating progressive responsibility and impact
• Leadership Experiences:
  • Guiding engineers through complex business challenges
  • Designing and deploying resilient and scalable solutions
  • Building consensus among diverse stakeholders
  • Navigating enterprise-level partnerships
• Leadership Qualities:
  • Strategic and innovative mindset
  • Adaptability in dynamic environments
  • Influential communication and collaboration skills

Skills That Will Help You Stand Out

• 4+ years of technology leadership experience, successfully managing and mentoring direct reports
• Financial Services industry experience
• Data Platform Architecture - ability to design scalable data architectures that transform operational data into consumable data products, with specific expertise in Snowflake architecture patterns and multi-tenant data sharing
• Data Governance Leadership - experience establishing and managing data standards, metadata management, data quality frameworks, and data lifecycle policies across an enterprise
• Data Integration Depth - strong background in ETL/ELT patterns using AWS Glue, Python-based data engineering, and data modeling
• Influence-Based Leadership - proven track record of driving data standardization and democratization across teams, including building consensus around data definitions and managing competing priorities
• Cloud Data Platform Expertise - experience with modern cloud data platforms (particularly Snowflake and AWS), data mesh principles, Python-based analytics frameworks, and self-service analytics enablement

Salary Range Information

Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

Salary Range

$141000 - $185000 / year

Time Off Program

Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don't accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.

Pension Eligible

Yes

Additional Information

Work Environments

This role offers an in-office and hybrid (blending at least three office days in a typical workweek) work arrangement in Des Moines, IA or Charlotte, NC.
Our Engineering Culture

Through our product-driven Agile/Lean DevOps environment, we've fostered a culture of innovation and experimentation across our development teams. As a customer-focused organization, we work closely with our end users and product owners to understand and rapidly respond to emerging business needs.

Collaboration is embedded into everything we do - from the products we develop to the quality service we provide. We're driven by the belief that diversity of thought, background, and perspective is critical to creating the best products and experiences for our customers.
Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.

Nonimmigrant Workers and for Employment-Based Immigrants
Investment Code of Ethics

For Principal Asset Management positions, you'll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.
Experience Principal

At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we're imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services - and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.
Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Posting Window

We will accept applications for 3 full days following the Original Posting Date, after which the posting may remain open or be removed based upon applications received. If we choose to post the job again, we will accept additional applications for at least 1 full day following the Most Recently Posted Date. Please submit applications in a timely manner as there is no guarantee the posting will be available beyond the applicable deadline.

Date First Posted (TTF)

1/16/2026

Latest Post Date: Careers - US

1/16/2026

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